All hopes are dashed for the Boston Red Sox 2022 season

The Boston Red Sox find themselves in a precarious situation

The Boston Red Sox needed to bounce back after the All-Star break. They had lost 6 of 7 to both the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees and found themselves grasping for air. The break was a perfect way to reset, rest up, and get back into the winning ways the team had established in June.

Perhaps it was time to finally win a series against an AL East opponent, something the Red Sox have failed to do thus far in 2022. But no. In just three games, the Red Sox were outscored 40-10, outhit 51-26, and struck out 36 times by the Toronto Blue Jays on their way to a three game sweep.

All of the shortcomings of this Red Sox team were put on display in this three game set against the Blue Jays, and they have squashed hope for any sort of future this team may have.

At the end of the season, Red Sox fans will look at these pivotal three games against the division opponent Blue Jays as an indicator of how poorly this season has gone.

So who is to blame? We’ll start with Chaim Bloom for putting this roster together. Yes, the Red Sox have been hurt by injuries, namely Chris Sale, Trevor Story, and Christian Arroyo, and more recently Rafael Devers and JD Martinez. But beyond that, the rest of this lineup looks like the WooSox, maybe even the Portland Red Sox.

Trading to get Jackie Bradley back isn’t looking so great. He’s improved off his .163 batting average from 2021, but is still straddling the Mendoza Line.

Franchy Cordero had a flash in the pan for a minute but he’s now struck out 35 times in his last 76 plate appearances (46% of the time).

Bloom’s so called next big prospect Bobby Dalbec couldn’t hit water from a boat. He has struck out in 31.5% of his at bats this year, which if qualified would make him 5th worst in baseball.

Jeter Downs has been just miserable at the plate with 5 hits in 36 at bats to start his major league career. He’s added two errors in the field along the way in just 12 games.

Brayan Bello is clearly not ready for the majors and despite the excitement going into his first start, it’s going to take a lot of time for him to be ready for the majors. He is now 0-2 with 14 earned runs, 22 hits, 8 walks, and just 9 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched.

And beyond just poor roster management, limited depth, and players not panning out or being ready for the big leagues in time, you can blame Bloom for the distractions surrounding the Red Sox best players, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts.

I’m with Red Sox nation in thinking that Devers should be paid. Alex Speier’s report that the Red Sox offered him Matt Olson money, who signed an eight year $168 million dollar contract, is indication of a snowball by Bloom. I’ve never been one to advocate for long-term contracts that just eat into the team years down the line, but you have to pay Devers or at least be willing to negotiate with him. He’s one of the best pure hitters in the league and will only get better.

The negotiations with Xander have soured too, and it’s becoming increasingly likely that he will not be in Boston for much longer. It’s gotten to the point where these guys are just laughing about the contract negotiations to the media, which I give them full credit for. If the Red Sox don’t respect their talents and pay up, they’re as good as gone. Bloom’s embarrassed this team, and if he doesn’t sign Devers, he shouldn’t be in Boston much longer.

We can also put some of the blame on Alex Cora as well. He’s continued to put players in positions they shouldn’t be playing and putting a bad product out on the field. The Red Sox have had blunder after blunder in the field over the past few weeks. There was Arroyo missing the fly ball in right field against the Yankees, and then Duran missing the fly ball against the Blue Jays on Friday, and it’s all compounded by silly mistakes in between. The Red Sox have 9 errors in their last six games.

I get that the team is injured, but players are not playing in their natural positions. Duran should not be playing center, Arroyo should not be playing right, Cordero is not a first basemen and neither is Vazquez. The product on the field is dismal and when players don’t play their natural positions, mistakes come to the surface.

I think Cora can also be blamed for how he’s handled all this losing. It doesn’t seem like he’s lit much of a fire into anyone after continued embarrassment. Not benching Duran after missing a fly ball and not running after it seemed like a poor leadership decision. He should’ve called a bus back to Worcester for that. Cora’s had to deal with injuries, a front office unwilling to spend, no real first basemen or right fielder, and a poor bullpen, but the way he’s constructed his lineups has been alarming.

There’s no hope left for this team. Sale, Martinez, Story, and Devers are all dealing with injuries. Even the guys that are hitting well, like Bogaerts and Martinez, are not hitting for power or production. Martinez has 15 RBI’s in his last 40 games and only 9 home runs in total on the season. Bogaerts has 11 RBI’s in his last 40 games and just 7 home runs this year. And if you think the product on the field is going to perform, you are dead wrong.

Since June 21st, Duran, Dalbec, Cordero, Bradley Jr. and Downs are 62-321 (.193) with 124 strikeouts, a 38.6% strikeout rate. Sadly, this makes up the bulk of your lineup when other players are injured.

Injuries, dismal fielding, terrible hitting, and contract talks have all been slowing killing the Boston Red Sox. It’s almost time to put a fork in this season and declare the Red Sox sellers at the trade deadline. If they don’t win out or close to it before the deadline, moves will be made, and the Red Sox will look different for years to come.

In just three short days, the Red Sox season has turned completely on its head, giving fans little to no hope.